The present invention relates to electrical connectors and especially to an electrical connector for coupling a single wire insulated electrical conductor to an electrical appliance. This application is a continuation-in-part of my previous patent application for Electrical Connector filed Dec. 29, 1997, Ser. No. 08/999,356 which is a continuation in part of previous patent application for Electrical Connector filed May 14, 1996, Ser. No. 08/645,514, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,814, dated Jan. 6, 1998.
In the past, a wide variety of electrical wire connectors have been provided for connecting to wire ends. In a typical connector, the end of the wire is stripped of insulation and the bare wire is inserted into a connector where it can be soldered or clamped or otherwise attached to the connector. It is also common to tin the wire ends by coating the wire end with solder. A wide variety of connectors have been provided which removably hold the wire to the connector.
Typical electrical connectors are used in audio systems, such as in hi-fi speakers in which a wire end is stripped of the insulation and is inserted into an opening and then a threaded nut is used to removably attach the wire. Other connectors use spring clamps which allows a wire end stripped of insulation to be inserted into a connector opening with the spring clamp open and then releasing the spring clamp onto the wire. Reopening of the spring connector clamp allows the removal of the wire end. Other commonly used connectors allow a stripped wire end to be inserted into a conductive sleeve which is then clamped with pliers to collapse a conductive sleeve onto the wire. Automobile batteries are commonly connected to the automotive electrical circuitry with battery terminal connectors which are fixedly attached to battery cables and mechanically clamped onto the battery terminal posts.
Prior battery cable connectors can be seen in the following U.S. Patents. The Potgieter U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,827 is for a battery cable connector for batteries commonly used in motor vehicles having terminals in the form of cylindrical posts, which connector includes a conical element which penetrates the insulated wires of the battery cable end to spread the wires out on all sides along a surface. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,856,018 an electrical connector and terminal is shown which uses a conical wedge member to lock the battery cable to the connector. In the Anderson U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,765,451 and 2,713,155, a battery clamp uses a triangular tongue which is driven into the end of the battery cable. U.S. Pat. No. 1,258,304 is for a cable terminal which has a metal end collar attached over the end of a battery cable which is inserted against a piercing prong to make conductive contact. U.S. Pat. No. 1,247,656 to Gadke is a terminal for conductors which has a cylindrical sleeve which fits over the end of an insulated conductor and a conical tip.
Prior U.S. patents which show electrical connectors which used conductive prongs and which are not used for battery terminal connectors may be seen in the Chang U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,333 for a wire connector having two concentric sockets adapted to be assembled one into the other and in which the inner socket has a conductive needle mounted therein for sliding a wire end into each end of the connector and which uses a spike pressed into holes in the sleeves to penetrate the coating of the wire ends. In the Danner U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,320, a dangler cathode cable assembly is connected to a ball-like cathode member by stripping the end portion of the cable and inserting the end portion into a sleeve which is pressed into an undersized tapered socket and which has a pointed pin therein. In the U.S. patent to Friedhelm, No. 4,786,760, a cable connector for a piezoelectric cable has an insulated cable end which is inserted into a sleeve. In the U.S. patent to Berman, No. 4,091,233, an electrical connector and a method of connecting an electrical cable to the connector is provided for connecting one or more insulated electrical cords or cables together. The insulated cable ends can be inserted into the receptacles on either end and onto a prong of electrically conductive material so that the prong is an electrical contact with the wire of an insulated cord end. A container of adhesive material on the end of the receptacle is released from the container to create a physical bond between the cord and the connector to hold the cord within the connector. In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,201, an electrical connector is coupled to an insulated electrical conductor without stripping the end of the insulated conductor. The insulated wire is held with a spring clamp which allows the wire to be released.
The Komada U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,458 is for a method of connecting a co-axial cable to a connector having a plurality of connections. The Herrington U.S. Patent No. 916,313 is for a spark plug having a spark plug wire connector on the end thereof. The Despard U.S. Pat. No. 3,097,035 is for another electric cable connector for use between sections of flexible multi-conductor cable as used with portable electric power consuming equipment and to a fixed power outlet. The Polidori U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,147 has a connector for underground utility applications.